Improvement in musical reed-instruments



' may be opened at pleasure.

UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE S. SHEPARD, OF OANAAN, NEI/V HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MUSICAL REED-INSTRUMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,365, dated July 31,1855.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. SHEPARD, of Canaan, in the county ofGrafton and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Reed Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full and eXactdescription thereof,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecication.

Figure l is a top view of a suticient portion of a reed-instrument t0enable my improvements thereto to be understood; Fig. 2, a longitudinalvertical section in the line t t of Fig. l; Fig. 3, a transverse sectionin the line a: of Fig. l; Fig. 4, a transverse section in the line y g/of the said Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a view of a detached portion oftheinstrument.

Smilarletters indicate like parts in all the figures. v

I make the supporting' frame-work of my improved reed-instruments of anyshape and size that may be required to give the proper support to theinstrument. The socket-board c divides the valve-chamber l from thereedchamber J. The valve-chamber I is divided from the sounding-chamberA by means of a partition t', Which is perforated with the apertures CZd, which apertures are closed by the outwardly-opening valves e e, thatare connected to the levers f and k and to any suitable pedal in such amanner that said valves The said valves e e are closed by the action ofthe spring Zon the lever k or by any other suitable means. The saidvalve-chamber I is also connected to the sounding-chamber B, which issuspended below it and communicates with it by means of suitableopenings in the partition s, as represented in Figs. 3 and 5.

The reeds b Z) and the valves 7i are connected to the socket-board c inany well-known or usual manner, and the said valves maybe operated inany weil-known manner. The air to act upon the reeds is made t0 entereach end of the reed-chamber J through the oblong openings y g from anydesired form or arrangement of bellows. Sounding-posts n n are insertedbetween the socket-board c andthebottoms of the Val ve-chamber I, whichserve a purposesimilar to what they do in stringed instruments. Byopening t0 their full extent the valves c c, and thereby allowing theair to escape freely from the valvechamber into the sounding-chamber A,tones of great fullness and power will be produced, and by nearlyclosing said valves the softest possible tones will be produced.

The auxiliary sounding-chamber B adds greatly to the vibrating surfaceof the instrument and prevents the air in the valvechamber from reactingagainst the reeds when the valves e e are nearly closed, and therebyadds greatly to the fullness and evenness of the tones produced.

7 Having thus fully described my improvement in reed-instruments, what Iclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the auxiliary soundingchambervBand the swell-chamberA with the valve-chamber I, substantially in the manner and for thepurpose herein set forth.

The above specification of my new and improved reed-instrument signedand witnessed this 10th day of June, 1855.

GEORGE S. SHEPARD.

Witnesses:

WM. P. WEEKS, WM. C. WEBSTER.

